If heavy blur is your obsession, a 135mm f/1.4 gives you a level of background wipeout that few lenses can touch. It takes the look far enough that even seasoned bokeh chasers start paying attention.
Coming to you from Alex Barrera, this candid video centers on the Sigma 135mm f/1.4 DG Art lens and what it actually feels like to shoot real portraits with such a long, bright prime on Sony E mount. Barrera starts from a place you might relate to if you prefer shorter focal lengths and like to stay close enough to talk to your subject without shouting. He opens the box, sees just how much glass is packed into the barrel, and immediately feels the size and weight in his hands. On paper, it sounds like everything you would not want to carry through a full session, especially if you are used to living on a 50mm. The interesting part is how quickly his first portrait outing flips that expectation once he sees how aggressively the lens wipes out the background.
Barrera comes from years of shooting weddings mostly on a single 50mm, with 85mm as his upper limit, so his reaction to a 135mm is not the usual long-lens fan talk. Once he starts shooting at f/1.4, the way the Sigma separates a subject from the environment feels almost unreal, with foreground sharpness and a heavy blur wall behind. He talks about loving bokeh in general, but the rendering here is different enough that it makes him think seriously about adding a focal length he has always avoided. Hearing someone so allergic to long focal lengths get hooked on a 135mm gives you a clearer sense of how strong the look really is.
Key Specs
Focal length: 135mm telephoto prime
Maximum aperture: f/1.4; minimum aperture: f/16
Mount: Sony E with full frame coverage
Minimum focus distance: 43.3″ / 110 cm
Maximum magnification: 0.14x (1:6.9 reproduction ratio)
Optical design: 17 elements in 13 groups
Diaphragm: 13 rounded blades
Focus type: autofocus, no optical image stabilization
Tripod mounting: removable, rotating collar
Filter size: 105 mm front thread
Dimensions: 4.4 x 5.3″ / 111.7 x 135.5 mm
Weight: 3.15 lb / 1.43 kg
The video also digs into something that spec sheets cannot show you: how this much glass changes the way you move and frame during a session. Barrera talks about feeling every ounce of the lens when he decides to carry it everywhere for a while, including a beach shoot and a day at a theme park. You get a sense of what it means to commit to a three-pound prime for casual shooting, not just controlled setups. At the same time, he keeps coming back to the files it produces, especially full-body portraits at distance where the subject pops and the surroundings melt into color and light. If you have ever wondered whether a specialty lens like this would actually leave the house, that part of the video is worth paying attention to.
Later in the video, Barrera pushes the Sigma into faster-paced work in low light, shooting performers on stage from the stands with moving subjects and high ISO. He talks about autofocus tracking that keeps up better than you might assume from such a large optic, which matters if you are thinking about events or nightlife, not just posed portraits. He also touches on how few people are using 135mm at f/1.4, and how that alone can give your portraits a different feel in a crowded feed. The tradeoff is obvious: weight, size, and a very specific look that can be overdone if every frame is shot wide open. Seeing how he balances those strengths and drawbacks on real shoots is where the video goes deeper than a spec list. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Barrera.